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(TALKZIMBABWE) US Senate dashes Tsvangirai's hopes

US Senate dashes Tsvangirai's hopes
Philip Murombedzi
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:58:00 +0000

PRIME MINISTER Morgan Tsvangirai will face a hard task of trying to convince President Barack Obama to remove sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe as it emerged Wednesday that the United States (US) Senate has passed a resolution to maintain the restrictive measures in place.

Tsvangirai plans to make his case Friday in a meeting with President Obama as part of a three-week state visit of Western countries. He also will meet Thursday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Last week President Mugabe met with US Congressman Donald Payne ahead of PM Tsvangirai's state visit to discuss easing of sanctions and open up diplomatic lines between the two countries.

Payne, together with select MDC-T leaders, took part in the drafting of the notorious sanctions document named the Zimbabwe Democracy Recovery Act (ZIDERA) in 2001-2002.

During his meeting with President Mugabe, Payne said the decision to remove sanctions lay mainly with the US Congress. He added that Congress would take the initiative on ZIDERA and would send it to the executive for consideration in the shortest possible time.

It has now emerged that the US Senate - one of the two Houses of the bicameral United States Congress - on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution saying ZIDERA will remain in place "until there is sufficient proof that Harare was moving towards the restoration of the rule of law and upholding of human rights".

The Senate said suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance will also remain in place until “there is demonstrable progress toward restoring the rule of law, civilian control over security forces, respect for human rights in Zimbabwe”.

The resolutions were co-sponsored by Senator Peter Feingold, Senators Johnny Isakson, John Kerry, James Inhofe, Sheldon Whitehouse, Bill Nelson, Roland W. Burris, Richard J. Durbin, Benjamin L. Cardin, Mel Martinez and Sam Brownback.

The Senate resolution follows an announcement on Monday by a top Whitehouse diplomat that Washington announced that it would not immediately increase aid to Harare’s inclusive Government formed last February.

US diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, said this week that "Washington was troubled by the absence of reform in Zimbabwe and had no plans for now to offer major aid or lift sanctions" against Zimbabwe.

The statements by the US administration and Senate are a blow on PM Tsvangirai’s efforts to reopen dialogue with the US and call for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

His meeting with President Obama is unlikely to yield much without the support of the US Congress.

President Mugabe "not best of angels"

Meanwhile, PM Tsvangirai has told journalists in Washington that President Robert Mugabe is not the "best of angels", but the inclusive Government, and its political underpinnings, remain strong.

"I am very realistic about what we need to do, and what our shortcomings are," he told journalists adding that he was aware that the southern African nation "needs to earn the confidence of the international community."

The PM also said the inclusive Government was still in no position to pay off approximately US$133 million in arrears to the International Monetary Fund which looks likely to keep the door shut on most new grants to Zimbabwe for the foreseeable future.

Tsvangirai dismissed questions about senior military and security leaders saying he was certain they would back the inclusive Government.

"I don't have to have personal love of generals or personal relationships. If anyone wants to have an attitude towards me, he is also undermining the inclusive Government," he said.

Regarding his MDC-T party's call for the reversal of appointments of the central bank governor and the attorney general, the PM was more conciliatory than on previous occasions. He said the credibility of the institution was more important than that of the individual.

""It is a very important issue, that is why it is a deadlocked issue," PM Tsvangirai said. "The credibility of the reserve bank -- not the merits of the individual -- is very very important."

Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations

In a separate speech delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations, PM Tsvangirai Zimbabwe was implementing "democratic reform". He said the AG and the RBZ governor should resign but not President Mugabe.

He said that "Zimbabwe is changing. Already Zimbabwe is a different place, a significantly better place. As a nation we were near death, and we have come back to life."

"I think it will be important for the United States to give transitional support to the government," Tsvangirai said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. "If this government were to collapse because it had failed to raise sufficient resources ... what is there to replace it, and what would be the future of Zimbabwe?"

The PM, in a scripted speech ended, "Thank you, America for having kept hope alive. Join me America, as our peoples move forward together."

Reuters, AFP and other sources were used in compiling this report.

Labels: COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, SANCTIONS, ZDERA

posted by MrK @ 12:14 PM